What to know about Murray State, the newest Missouri Valley Conference member

EVANSVILLE — The Missouri Valley Conference has poached another Ohio Valley Conference university.

Murray State will become the 11th member of the MVC beginning July 1 to join rival Belmont, the conference officially announced Friday morning after the Murray State Board of Regents unanimously approved the move in a special meeting.

Here’s what to know about the Racers:

More: 3 things to watch for University of Evansville athletics in 2022

Meet Murray State

Location: Murray, Kentucky

Founded: 1922

Type: Four-year public university

Colors: Navy blue and gold

Nickname: Racers

Mascot: Racer One and Dunker

2022-23 MVC members: Belmont, Bradley, Drake, Evansville, Illinois State, Indiana State, Missouri State, Murray State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Valparaiso.

The Valley will lose Loyola heading into next season to the Atlantic 10.

Murray State basketball will immediately bolster the MVC

Murray State is one of the best mid-major men's basketball programs as it boasts 17 NCAA tournament appearances. The Racers previously lost out in MVC expansion in 2017 when the league picked Valparaiso and since that decision, they have gone 100-35 under Matt McMahon.

They also made two NCAA tournaments and produced the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Ja Morant. They have three NCAA tournament wins since 2010.

This season, they’re 44th in the NCAA NET rankings after an 11-2 start. (Belmont is 31st.) Their athletics director Kevin Saal said Friday they average roughly 7,000 viewers on ESPN platforms for men’s basketball games.

“Excited for Murray State, and excited for the Missouri Valley Conference,” MVC Commissioner Jeff Jackson said in a release. “Everyone is aware of the tremendous success Murray has had, especially in the sport of basketball. The Racers will be a fantastic addition to our Conference.”

The Murray State fans travel well

Evansville knows this in particular considering the crowds the Racers have brought to Ford Center for OVC Championships.

More than 10,500 people showed up for the 2019 championship game between Murray State and Belmont, each of which advanced to the NCAA tournament. Another 8,300 were in the building for the semifinals the night before. That included Magic Johnson, multiple NBA general managers and future NFL Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald.

The Racers last played Evansville in Dec. 2019, the final game Walter McCarty coached at UE. There were 7,316 people there to see the Aces win in overtime.

Evansville now will be within a two-and-a-half-hour bus ride from Murray State, Belmont, Southern Illinois and Indiana State.

Their students and alumni already hail from the MVC footprint

During Friday’s Board of Regents meeting, Murray State said more than 90 percent of its current enrollment fits the MVC profile and more than 80 percent of its alumni base lives in those states, too.

That’s partly because students from Posey, Vanderburgh, or Warrick Counties in Indiana, for example, are given a tuition discount that essentially allows them to be treated as Kentucky students in terms of admission requirements.

Murray State’s enrollment this year is 9,427. It will be one of six public MVC institutions, but it will have the smallest student body of that group, at least for now. The MVC has five private universities.

Murray State fields 15 sports: basketball (men/women), baseball, cross country (men/women), football, golf (men/women), rifle (coed), soccer (women), softball, tennis (women), track & field-indoor/outdoor (women) and volleyball.

Don’t expect Murray State to be the last MVC addition

The MVC could add as many as three more schools as it continues to expand. They might even be on board by July when Belmont and Murray State come over from the OVC.

The University of Illinois Chicago will likely be approved as the 12th member in the coming weeks. UIC could be offered an invitation as soon as this weekend, when it makes a formal presentation to the conference — something Murray State did in December.

While UIC isn't as competitive on the basketball court most of the MVC, it’s attractive to MVC presidents for a different reason: access to the Chicago market. Throughout the Valley’s look into conference realignment, administrators have stressed the importance of adding big markets to recruit more students, not just athletes.

Two other schools the MVC reportedly considered are Kansas City and UT-Arlington.

Chad Lindskog is the sports editor of the Courier & Press. You can contact him by email, clindskog@gannett.com, or on Twitter: @chadlindskog.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Get to know Murray State, the newest Missouri Valley Conference member